brotherhood
by welcometonerdworld
Summary: In which Teddy Lupin learns what it's like to have a brother. A Teddy Lupin & James Sirius Potter bromance fic. One shot.


In which Teddy Lupin learns what it's like to have a brother. Beta read by my awesome friend Chewy, also known as the number one Bucky Barnes fan :)

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**Around October, 2004.**

Teddy Lupin is running away.

Well, okay, he's not really running away. All he's doing is leaving and never, ever coming back to Harry and Ginny's because they obviously don't love him if they're having a baby and he is being replaced. He's never going to come back for another sleepover again, and he's going to live at his Grandma's forever and only leave to talk to Victoire.

He hates it. The baby, he means. It hasn't even been born yet; Ginny doesn't even have a bump, and already it's taking over Teddy's entire life. He's pretty sure that when it is born, it will take all his clothes and his food and his best friend Victoire, and maybe it'll even take his Grandma. The baby is going to be evil, he's sure of it.

Shouldering his little blue rucksack and pulling his blanket around him – he can't let the baby take that too – he slips out of his room (although, he thinks, it's really the baby's), tiptoeing down the stairs and sneaking through the corridors to the front door. He can vaguely hear voices coming from the living room, and his lower lip trembles as he imagines Harry and Ginny discussing the baby, forgetting all about him.

Teddy pauses at the door, takes a deep breath. Then, he opens it, steps out quickly, shuts it and starts to walk as quickly as his six year old legs can take him.

Tears blur his vision as he stumbles down the road, and he wipes them away impatiently. He recalls a conversation he once had with his Grandma about getting lost – "Remember, Teddy, you can always get on the Knight Bus. Just stick your arm out, like this" – and he does. Putting his left arm tentatively into the air, Teddy waits for exactly twenty seven seconds before there's a loud _bang_ that sends him sprawling back onto the pavement behind him.

"Hello?" calls a woman, looking around in bemusement. She glances left, right, and then down to spot him.

"Hello," says Teddy, trying his utmost to be polite, even though he's on the verge of a tantrum, "Can I get on, please?"

"Oh – yes," says the woman, raising her eyebrows. After a moment of hesitation, "Where are your parents?"

Immediately, Teddy's hair turns a deep grey-black colour from its usual bright blue. The woman, startled, watches as he fights back tears and says, "My parents are dead. I want to go to my grandma's."

"Oh, dear, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have asked – do you know where your grandma lives?" She steps off the bus and extends a hand. Teddy grabs it and tugs himself up, retrieving his blanket and bag from the ground.

"Um. Not exactly," he frowns, "Somewhere outside London, I think."

"Right…and where exactly are you coming from?"

"Well, it's my godfather you see. I'm staying with him, but he's having a baby and he doesn't want me here anymore. So I'm going to my grandma's." Somehow, Teddy is beginning to lose his patience with this woman. He has explained this story about five times now, or so it seems. "Can I please get on now?"

"Erm…what's your name, dear?"

"TEDDY!" A loud voice – Harry's – is shouting his name down the street. "Teddy? Teddy!"

The woman looks from the distant figure that is Harry, back to the little boy by her side. She smiles, and Teddy has no idea why – can't she see that he needs to go, now?

"You wouldn't be Teddy, would you?"

"I am," he says, and puffs out his chest unknowingly, "Teddy Lupin."

The woman's face creases instantly. "Lupin…now where have I heard that before?"

Teddy has just opened his mouth to explain all about his heroic parents and how they died in the Battle of Hogwarts just after his birth, when Harry appears at his side, panting slightly.

"Thank bloody Merlin," Harry wheezes, crouching down to inspect Teddy's face, holding him lightly by the shoulders, "Are you alright, Teddy? What's going on?"

Teddy, suddenly petulant again, crosses his arms. "Why do you care? I'm going to Grandma's."

Harry's eyebrows knit together, "I thought you were staying with me and Gin? Your Grandma needs a break, Ted, you know that."

"Fine," Teddy replies, sticking his chin out stubbornly, "I'm going to 'Toire's, then. 'Toire loves me."

"What on earth are you…" Harry trails off as he spots the woman, who is standing and gaping unattractively at the pair of them. "Sorry, you are?"

"Oh, um, I'm Julie. But are you…"

"Yes," Harry says, running a hand through his hair embarrassedly, "I'm Harry Potter. Very sorry about this, there's been a huge misunderstanding."

"But –" Teddy tries to speak, but as usual the adults refuse to listen.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Lovely to meet you both. I'm glad Teddy here has such a good godfather." Julie smiles at Teddy, patting his now dark blue hair fondly.

"Thank you for finding him," Harry says, putting a hand on a stunned Teddy's shoulder. Julie steps back onto the bus, which leaves instantly with a giant bang.

The road is now silent, except for the rustling sound of wind in the trees, and the sniffles that are coming from Teddy. Harry notices his godson's tears and, with one sweeping movement, scoops the boy and his blanket and bag up into his arms. "We'll talk at home, okay?" Harry says quietly, dropping a kiss onto Teddy's head as he starts to walk back home.

Whilst Harry is fairly worried, Teddy is completely and utterly confused. Why is Harry being so nice to him? Teddy had thought that Harry didn't want him anymore. None of this was making any sense, and it makes less sense still when they go back into the house to find Ginny with her head in the fireplace, yelling.

"What d'you mean, he's not there? Bill, go and look for him properly, he's _always_ with Victoire! No, he's not at the Burrow, I already asked –"

"Ginny," Harry calls loudly, and the redheaded woman wrenches her head from the fireplace to turn to them. Teddy has never seen her look so worried.

"Teddy!" she gasps, jumping up from the carpet and taking three long strides to reach them. She wraps both him and Harry in her arms, and Teddy thought that it would be really nice to stay there forever, between two of his most favourite people in the world.

Then, he remembers the baby, and bursts into tears on the spot.

"Teddy?" Harry and Ginny ask in unison, setting him down on the sofa and perching on either side of him.

"I want to go to G-Grandma's!" He manages to get out. Harry and Ginny exchange a look, before frowning down at the little boy.

"What's going on, Ted?" Ginny asks in a soothing tone, rubbing a hand on his back, "You can tell us."

"It's – it's you!"

"Us?" Harry repeats, blinking, "What have we done?"

"It's your baby," Teddy says, looking up at them with wide, watery brown eyes, "You don't love me anymore because of your baby, so I'm going."

Comprehension dawns on the two adults. Harry takes one little clammy hand and grips it tight. "Listen, Teddy. We – Gin and I – we love you. We love you so, so much. We are having a baby, yes, but it doesn't mean we'll love you any less."

Pouting, Teddy looks at his godfather, "But the baby's going to have my room, isn't it? I heard you talking."

"Yes, the baby's going to have your room," Ginny says, "But that's only because we thought you're too big for it anyway. You're a big boy now, right?"

"I suppose," Teddy frowns, although his tears have dried up now, and he's no longer so upset, "Are you sure the baby won't take all my stuff?"

"Of course not. The baby will have their own stuff." Ginny says it as if it's obvious, and Teddy starts to feel a little embarrassed that he didn't think of that.

"The baby will be your godbrother or godsister, Teddy. Just like another one of your cousins."

"Only better, because they're half Harry and half me," Ginny says, winking.

Teddy giggles at that, before his brows furrow again. "But I'm not like you too. Not really."

"Says who?" Harry smiles, "If you ask me, you're the most special. You're Weasley and Potter, but you're also Tonks and Lupin."

He almost starts crying again at this, but instead gives them both a teary grin. "I guess I am pretty cool."

"'Course you are," says Ginny, and she leans down to kiss his forehead, "We'll never stop loving you."

"What if I'm a Squib?"

"Nah. That's fine." Harry shrugs.

"A vampire?"

"Bit scary, but I'm sure we'll cope," Ginny grins.

"A…hippogriff?"

"We'll love you even then. Hippogriffs are great, you know." Harry says.

Teddy's eyes widen instantly, turning a bright shade of green that matches his godfather's, "Have you _met_ a hippogriff?"

"He's flown on one, actually." Ginny laughs at Teddy's awed expression, "But that story's for your bedtime. Now how about some food? You must be starving after your escape attempt."

As the three of them make their way into the kitchen, Teddy walking between Harry and Ginny, each of them holding one of his hands, he reckons that having a god-sibling might not be so bad.

* * *

**Several months later, March, 2005.**

It just so happens that when James Sirius Potter comes into the world, Teddy Lupin is tucked up in his bed. His grandma comes to wake him at approximately three in the morning – "Come on, Ted. I know you've been waiting for this" – and Teddy has never been so quick to wake up. He hardly listens to his grandma's complaints about him not washing his hands after going to the loo – who has time for washing hands when there's a _baby_ to see? Not Teddy, that's for sure.

They Floo to St. Mungo's, and Teddy trips sleepily out of the grate before pulling himself to his feet and running down the corridors, amongst complaints from Healers and his grandma, who strides after him, apologising for the chaos.

He taps his feet impatiently as the lift moves slowly, taking the excitable little boy and his exasperated grandma to the Maternity Ward. The doors open and Teddy is just about to start sprinting when his grandma holds him back.

"Be careful, alright? We don't want to knock down any new-borns," she says fondly, and Teddy nods, taking her hand. Together, they walk down the corridors until they find the private room that Ginny was in – they'd thought it better for publicity, wanting to shield the baby from the press.

At his grandma's encouraging smile, Teddy knocks on the door. A voice – he can't be sure, but he thinks it's Ron's – tells them to come in, and they do, Teddy twisting the doorknob and shuffling inside.

A small group of people are congregated around a bed. Teddy recognises them all: Ron, Hermione, George, Mr and Mrs Weasley…the list continues. He doesn't spot any children though, and feels a sense of pride bubble up inside him, because even Victoire and Molly aren't out of bed to see the new baby.

The crowd that obscures Teddy's view is starting to irritate him a little, so he lets go of his grandma's hand and walks forward, stopping only to let a nurse pass him. He tugs on the arm of the person just next to the bed – Harry, of course – and the bespectacled man peers down at him, weary but happy. His face breaks out into an even wider smile as he sees his godson.

"Alright, Ted? Come and meet your godbrother." And, in the same way he had when Teddy tried to run away, Harry scoops him up with one arm, lifting him so he can see the bed properly.

Lying on top of the white sheets is Ginny. She has dark circles under her eyes and her hair looks a bit like a bird's nest, but Teddy doesn't think he's ever seen her so happy. She's propped up slightly by a few pillows, and nestled into her arms is a blanket. In that blanket is a miniscule person, even smaller than Teddy's favourite soft toy: the baby.

Teddy blinks as he looks down at it from his place in Harry's arms. It's very small, tinier than anything he's ever seen. Even when Dominique was born, she hadn't been this little, this red, this peaceful-looking. She certainly hadn't had this much hair – this baby has a shock of it, identical to Harry's in the colour and the untidiness.

"His name's James," Harry says quietly, "James Sirius Potter."

"Like your dad? And Uncle Sirius?" Teddy asks.

Harry smiles, nodding. "Want to hold him?"

Teddy gapes, and his hair unconsciously turns a bright pink colour – the one it always does when he's surprised. Holding babies is a huge responsibility, and he knows because he was only allowed to hold Molly when he was sitting down (although that was when he was about four, he's _much_ bigger now) and he wasn't allowed to hold Dom for a while either, certainly not on the day she was born.

He nods eagerly, and follows Harry's direction to clamber onto the bed and sit between Ginny's knees. Harry shows him how to position his arms, not that he didn't already know, because Teddy Lupin is a baby-holding expert.

Slowly, Harry takes the baby (_James_, Teddy thinks. The baby has a name now) from Ginny's arms, carrying him carefully into Teddy's. The weight of him is surprising. He doesn't look heavy, but somehow in Teddy's little arms and hands, James doesn't seem so small. He's actually a person, a real life person, one who will cry and eat and sleep and play and cause a lot of mischief.

As Teddy holds him in his arms, with James' black-haired head secured in the crook of his elbow and his body supported by Teddy's palms, a small smile starts to curl onto his face. For the first time, he has no concerns that this baby, James, could ever ruin his life. Harry and Ginny love them both exactly the same, because they're godbrothers.

No, Teddy thinks, we're brothers. His hair transforms once more, this time to a black mess, and Teddy knows that nothing has ever been better than James Sirius Potter.

* * *

**Quite a few years after that, September, 2017.**

Teddy is pretty sure that his favourite hobby is snogging Victoire Weasley. In spite of what Witch Weekly loves to say about him, he is definitely _not_ a wild boy with an attitude problem, and he does not like luring teenaged girls into dark corners. Well, not often. (He does have several tattoos and three piercings, but that's beside the point.)

In fact, you could say that Victoire Weasley is usually the main culprit in the whole snogging-in-public thing. Case in point: now. Victoire is about to get on the Hogwarts Express, and, after whinging for several minutes about how she wishes they were the same age, she pushes him against a column and starts to kiss him like her life depends on it.

Not that he's complaining, Teddy muses, as one of his hands curls into her hair, the other resting dangerously high on her waist. He's well aware of the fact that they're in a public place, that there are tons of students and parents and teachers alike who could come across them at any given moment, but isn't that what makes it all the more fun?

He likes to think so – at least, until they are interrupted.

"Teddy!"

He'd forgotten that no one was nosier than James Potter. He's really one of a kind, Teddy thinks, as he removes his face from his girlfriend's to look at his brother's disgusted yet gleeful expression.

"What are you doing?" James asks, grin unfurling on his face.

Teddy represses a groan at the thought of him telling the whole world – the parents already know, of course, but he could really do without the entirety of Hogwarts gossiping about this.

"I'm just seeing her off, James."

"Yeah, he is," Victoire pipes up, smirking, "Off you go, James."

"But –"

"Bye, James." Teddy says pointedly, and the younger boy rolls his eyes dramatically, wheeling around his trolley and zooming away from the pair.

Teddy turns back to Victoire, taking her hands in his and kissing her knuckles. "I'll write all the time."

"You'd better," she says, flicking her hair over her shoulder exaggeratedly, "I can't be seen with a boyfriend who doesn't even write."

He smirks, leaning in to peck her lips, "I'll sneak into the building and snog you on the Astronomy Tower."

"Sounds good. Now I know what the magazines meant about 'dark corners'."

"Shut up, you."

After finally leaving Victoire on the train with her group of friends who never seem to cease giggling about him, Teddy ambles back towards the rest of the family.

He h hugs everyone who's going off to school (Rose, Al, Louis, Fred, Roxanne…the list never ends), before coming to a sulky looking Lily. She lights up, however, when he approaches. "Are you going out with 'Toire?" she asks loudly, and Teddy winces, looking around surreptitiously before nodding. Lily squeals, hugging him around the waist before running off (probably to tell everyone she knows, Teddy reckons).

He sighs, leaning against the wall and tracing a finger over one of his oldest tattoos. This particular one rests in the crook of his elbow, the exact same place where a much younger Teddy had first held his brother. He's inspecting the black ink idly when the boy in question appears.

"I'm off," James says, and Teddy looks up.

"Second year, eh? You ready?"

"'Course," James says, faking nonchalance. Teddy has known him for long enough to tell when he's nervous.

"Hey, you'll be alright. I know you'll make it onto the team, okay?"

James bites his lip anxiously, and Teddy is suddenly surprised to realise that James is no longer the little baby he once held – he's taller, tougher. His hair is the same and his eyes too, but he wears rectangular glasses now that he keeps having to push up the bridge of his nose, and his wit is stronger than ever. "I really hope so. Competition's tough, you know? Especially for the Gryffindor team."

"Just remember, you're James Sirius Potter. You have the blood of your granddad and your dad and your mum. You're half Weasley, half Potter. You're more special than anyone I know, alright? And if you don't make it on the team, you can come be in the 'Can't Play Quidditch' group with me."

James' anxious look is replaced by a teasing one, "You and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Percy? No bloody way."

Teddy hits him lightly on the head before pulling him into a hug, the younger boy's head leaning into Teddy's stomach. He drops a kiss lightly onto James' forehead just before he wriggles away. "Good luck. Write me, yeah?"

"Only every other week," James winks, before turning and waving, walking to the train. Teddy saunters forwards to stand with the parents, feeling strange as this is the first time he's not on the train, waving goodbye to Harry and Ginny and his grandma. He grins at his cousins as they stick their heads out the windows, blows a kiss to Victoire, gives James a thumbs up gesture.

When the train has pulled away, he looks back down at his inked skin. There, in black lettering, is the word _James_. Underneath, the names of his other siblings, his cousins, Victoire. But always first, his godbrother. His brother.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it, I had loads of fun writing because Teddy and James are two of my favourite hp characters and I love their bromance :) Please leave a review if you can!**


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